A citizens group is suing several Southwestern College contractors caught up in the District Attorney’s probe of corruption in the South Bay, seeking to invalidate $9.97 million in contracts and recover money for the college.

The suit goes after contracts awarded to a construction manager, architect and builder, saying the companies had conflicts of interest involving officials they were wining and dining. The companies dispute the allegations.

Attorney Cory Briggs, retained by the nonprofit San Diegans for Open Government, said he is suing “because nobody else has taken steps to protect the taxpayer and to protect student money.”

Briggs and Ian Trowbridge, the activist who heads the nonprofit group, filed a similar suit against Sweetwater Union High School District contractors in January. In that suit, they also sued the district. That is not the case with the Southwestern lawsuit, filed July 30. The college is named a party of interest, not a defendant.

College President and Superintendent Melinda Nish said in a statement, “The college district supports efforts to recover funds paid out on contracts that were allegedly obtained in violation of the law.”

Seville Construction Services, BCA Architects and Echo Pacific Construction are named as defendants.

“Seville Construction Services will vigorously defend our company’s reputation against frivolous claims, particularly those by plaintiff’s attorneys with a history of filing what we believe to be questionable legal challenges throughout Southern California on behalf of anonymous ‘citizen’ groups that they establish,” the company said in a statement.

Seville officials noted that San Diegans for Open Government is a suspended corporation, according to the California Secretary of State. Briggs said the group’s status is the result of paperwork pileup at the state level and that their renewal documentation was sent months ago.

Attorney Jeffrey Baird for Escondido-based Echo Pacific Construction said the lawsuit aims to interfere with settlement talks between the company and the college.

“We consider this an attempt by the Briggs Law Corporation to gain financially by seeking attorneys’ fees in a lawsuit involving the college’s interests,” the company said in a statement. “We contend the Briggs Law Corporation is not acting in the taxpayer’s interest but for its own financial gain.”

San Jose-based BCA Architects issued a similar statement.

“We want to be paid for approved services performed and we want the taxpayers to get the best use of the land,” it said. “Any other procedures are a legal smoke screen.”

The firms were hired for work on the “corner lot,” a college gateway project at East H Street and Otay Lakes Road in Chula Vista. Plans for the 110,000-square-foot addition include a bookstore, classrooms, food court, art gallery, wellness center, college police station and administrative spaces, according to the college.

The corner lot design by BCA Architects won the Project in Design Award of Excellence from the Community College Facility Coalition in 2011.

According to the college’s 2010-11 bond oversight committee annual Proposition R report issued March 16, work on the corner lot project proceeded at a very slow pace after breaking ground in October 2010.

The lawsuit questions how contracts were awarded.

The college’s former vice president of business and financial affairs, Nick Alioto, was charged by the district attorney with felony perjury, felony filing a false document and a misdemeanor charge for allegedly using his position to wrongly influence a governmental decision in which he had an interest. Alioto pleaded not guilty; a status hearing for the case is scheduled for Aug. 24.

The civil lawsuit cites a June 2010 golf and wine getaway with Alioto in Napa that was auctioned off at a college foundation event that year to the highest bidder, Echo Pacific, for $15,000.

In an interview with the U-T Watchdog after the trip, Alioto said it is normal for people to bid on auction items that include dinner or outings with decision-makers and that his attendance did not constitute a conflict of interest. He said Echo’s subsequent selection for the work was not related to the donation.

Paul Bunton, president of BCA Architects, pleaded guilty to aiding in the commission of a misdemeanor after he paid for meals and entertainment for college officials who failed to report the gifts on state-mandated forms.

The college’s governing board voted to terminate its contract with Echo Pacific last fall, and in January voted to terminate its contract with Seville Construction Services and its contract with BCA Architects, though the college expects to use BCA’s design plans.

In April, the board unanimously voted to pursue legal action against all three corner lot contractors, though no lawsuit has been filed by the college, according to a search of court records.

In Briggs’ similar lawsuit involving Sweetwater schools construction contractors, the district has filed two motions, one to strike the case and one to postpone the case until after the district attorney’s criminal case is over.

A judge is scheduled to rule Dec. 7 on whether to grant the district’s request to postpone or strike the Sweetwater civil suit.

Forty charges, including 14 recently added felony charges for allegedly accepting a bribe, have been filed against four current and former Sweetwater officials, including two board members. The district attorney alleges the officials participated in a pay-to-play scheme when awarding construction contracts. All have pleaded not guilty.

John Moot, the attorney representing Sweetwater in the case, said the contracts lawsuit should wait.

“We believe the best time to pursue that matter is after the criminal case is concluded. … Why should the taxpayers pay twice to do the same thing?” Moot said. “We don’t presume people guilty. We don’t presume people innocent. That’s why we let the process play itself out. That’s why we have asked for a stay.”